ed gillespie joins us now. the "wall street journal" describes the tea party this way, as a center of gravity within the republican party. how would you describe it? >> i would say that it's a driving force right now in terms of peoples' concerns about too much debt, too much spending, excessive taxation, the largest tax increase in american history, looming on the horizon on january 1, and i think that the tea party voters have brought a lot of vigor to the republican party. you know, sometimes it's a little disruptive but growing pains are better than shrinking pains any day if you're a former party chairman like i am. >> david a*pbgsel rod offers his own opinion, saying the republican brand is not very strong right now and that's primarily why the tea party is actually here. what responsibility do you think the republican has for this tea party moving even starting? is it because people weren't happy with the republican party and the brand wasn't strong? >> well, i think there are definitely a lot of tea par